After maintaining beforehand that his “Real Steel” show would be an “unforgettable event”, Dave Coldwell delivered on his promise as Curtis Woodhouse and Dale Miles produced a stellar effort in front of a noisy Rotherham crowd with the latter taking the spoils with a stunning TKO late into the fifth session. Serving as an eliminator for Darren Hamilton’s Lonsdale title, the light-welterweight pair produced an all-action affair that has received huge acclaim from the boxing community and Coldwell insists that praise for both Woodhouse and Miles is well deserved.

“I’ve been promoting for a number of years now and this was by far the best event I’ve ever been involved in,” beamed the ecstatic promoter. “The crowd was red-hot all the way through and the atmosphere they put on was unbelievable. People knew that this fight had serious potential and no one went home disappointed and that’s what I want Coldwell Boxing to be about. This is the entertainment business and as a promoter, I believe I have a duty to give fans value for money and that is what we done tonight. We want to be TV promoters as soon as possible and putting on fights of this quality is what’s going to get us there.”

Despite the setback suffered by the former footballer, Coldwell insists that more opportunities will eventually find Woodhouse. “This is all part of the learning process for Curtis and people need to remember that he came to boxing late and had no amateur experience. A lot of people said that when it gets tough he’ll go back to playing football but he’s proved everyone wrong and that was most evident in his fight with Miles. Not once did he take a backward step and even when he was hurt he was still right in front of his opponent trying to find the punch that would hurt Miles. Curtis is an absolute character and that is what boxing needs.”

Another member of Coldwell’s rapidly expanding stable is Rotherham’s Nav Mansouri, who extended his unbeaten ledger with an impressive sixth session victory over Aylesbury’s Nathan Graham. Arguably more exciting than the main event, both had their moments in this well-matched contest but it was Mansouri’s extra quality that ensured his winning record stayed intact. Coldwell is eager to make Mansouri Yorkshire’s next big star.

“The following Nav has in Rotherham is pretty special but myself and my team believe that he has the style and personality to be more than just a hometown hero. He’s still got a few things to learn but the experience he’s been getting sparring with the likes of Paulie Malignaggi and Ryan Rhodes is crucial to his development and I can see the improvements in him already. He’s a popular young man in his area and he’s a rolemodel to a lot of people there so it’s no surprise that he’s well-supported but we want to step him up and get his name out there because we believe that he can have a good future in the sport.”

Another Coldwell prospect adding to his perfect slate was Manchester’s Hosea Burton who cruised to a four rounds points verdict over Essex’s Danny Brown. Burton’s dominant victory was his third straight professional win and the Joe Gallagher student can increase his winning profile when he fights again in Bolton later this month. Coldwell has high hopes for Burton and is excited by the former ABA champion’s potential.

“Hosea is a quality fighter and he’s only going to get better,” declared Coldwell. “Once this kid becomes the finished article, there’s not going to many guys who are able to stand up to him. Hosea is a big part of Coldwell Boxing’s future and the fact we’ve got a fighter who is capable of going far in this game as he is shows you how serious we are about being a promotional force. We’ve always put on quality fights but now we’re signing quality fighters and that’s what we want to keep doing. We want to be putting on fan-friendly contests and we also want to be developing some of the best young talent in the sport. Friday night was proof of that and the feedback has been outstanding so we’ve got to make sure that our standards don’t drop.”

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“1 of the best pro shows I’ve been to in a while tonight put on by Dave Coldwell.” Anthony Fowler, Team Great Britain